SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETS TO HELP CARE FOR PET CEMETERY. VOLUNTEERS WILL TEND GRAVES OF BELOVED MILITARY PETS

Presidio of San Francisco (March 18, 2010) — The Presidio Trust and the Swords to Plowshares Veterans Academy, located on the Presidio, are kicking off a new partnership that will ensure long-term stewardship of the Presidio Pet Cemetery. The agreement provides for Trust staff to work with residents at Swords to Plowshares’ permanent supportive housing facility, the Veterans Academy, to maintain and improve the cemetery. Activities will include pulling weeds, removing invasive plants, picking up trash, trimming shrubs, and eventually restoring individual grave markers.

Located at the foot of McDowell Avenue, beneath Doyle Drive, and bounded by a white fence, the 450-square foot cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of loyal animals owned by families stationed at the Presidio. The cemetery’s official record is spotty but, by most accounts, it dates to the 1950s when upwards of 2,000 military families lived on the base. There are numerous legends surrounding the cemetery, which some believe was originally a burial ground for nineteenth-century cavalry horses or World War II guard dogs.

“The pet cemetery gives us insight into family life at the Presidio. It is part of the fabric of the park and former military base,” says Craig Middleton, the Trust’s Executive Director. “We are grateful that the veterans of Swords to Plowshares have offered to care for this important part of the Presidio’s legacy.”